The Pittsburgh Pirates’ bullpen struggled once again on Sunday afternoon as the Chicago Cubs earned the 8-3 victory, clinching the weekend series victory at PNC Park.
Luis Ortiz started for the Bucs, giving up one run on one hit and a walk in 4.3 innings. Adrian Sampson took the mound for Chicago, giving up one run on four hits in six innings.
The Cubs broke the scoreless tie in the top of the fifth when Patrick Wisdom connected on his 25th homerun of the season, a three-run homerun to make it 3-0. Bryan Reynolds’ 26th homerun of the season came in the sixth, a solo shot to make it a 3-1 game.
Chicago scored three runs in the seventh to distance themselves from the Bucs. A single by Ian Happ scored a run and a fielding error by Oneil Cruz later in the inning allowed two more runs to score. The Cubs added two more runs in the eighth on a single by Esteban Quiroz and a wild pitch to make it 8-1.
Pittsburgh scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth on sacrifice fly balls by Rodolfo Castro and Jack Suwinski, but it was too little, too late.
Another disappointing series came to an end this afternoon for the Pirates. They are limping towards the finish line of the season. They will face the Cincinnati Reds in their next series, beginning tomorrow night at PNC Park.
Record vs. Cubs: 9-10
Record vs. N.L. Central: 29-38
Record at Home: 29-46
Overall Record: 56-97
And…
As Always…
Let’s Go Bucs!
